It is important to note that every member of the royal family works more than these numbers because there are countless hours of meetings and preparation behind each of these events and they are not on the calendar. Furthermore, both Prince Joachim and Princess Marie have day jobs. Prince Joachim works in the Armed Forces while Princess Marie is a special project assistant for the Danish Emergency Management Agency. Another important point is that the royal family did not work from February 13th to March 13th (with the exception of a few events for the Queen and a military dinner for the Queen and the Crown Prince couple on March 11th) because the Court was in a period of mourning after the death of Prince Henrik.

I included unannounced events in this tally as well as official family events such as Queen Margrethe’s birthday and the events surrounding Crown Prince Frederik’s birthday. The events surrounding Prince Henrik’s death and his funeral were not included.

Onto the data now!

As a whole, the family worked fewer days than in 2017 but it is understandable with the fact that Prince Henrik died. For the year of 2018, someone in the family had a publicly announced event a total of 220 days of the year- 60% of the days in 2018. It was 260 days in 2017. Unlike last year, Queen Margrethe is not the member of the family who worked the most days. But with 93 days worked and considering the difficult year she had with the loss of her husband and her cousin Princess Elisabeth, it is still quite remarkable.

Princess Benedikte moved back to Denmark permanently last year after the death of her husband Prince Richard and it shows in her number! She worked 65 days in 2018, 9 more days than in 2017. I wonder what 2019 will hold for her! On another note, Queen Anne-Marie of Greece attended two official events with her sisters Queen Margrethe and Princess Benedikte this year and it was really great to see her so I hope we’ll see more of the three sisters together next year!

In my post last year, I wrote that I was surprised that Crown Princess Mary had worked more days than Crown Prince Frederik and that she was the member of the royal family that had worked the most days after the Queen. Well, this year, the balance is restored. While Crown Princess Mary maintains the same level of work with 95 days worked, Crown Prince Frederik improved his numbers this year working 100 days in 2018 despite having a short sick leave because of surgery. It is important to note that he attended the full week of Invictus Games in October and he was the only royal to do so. He is the member of the royal family who worked the most days. Out of the 365 days of the year, he was regent for 47 days which is 6 days more than in 2017 which means that Queen Margrethe has been abroad (mostly privately) slightly more than in 2017.

Prince Joachim and Princess Marie are the members of the Danish royal family that have the less worked days but they also are the two members with a day job. Princess Marie worked 52 days in 2018. That is the exact same number of days as in 2017 which makes her the most consistent member with Crown Princess Mary. We have seen more engagements abroad though so I hope this is a trend that will continue. On the other hand, Prince Joachim worked 57 days during 2018 which is 18 less days than in 2017. This can be explained by two things in addition to the period of mourning: while we usually get some glimpse into Princess Marie’s work with DEMA, we don’t usually know things about Prince Joachim’s private work with the military for obvious security reasons. We also learned through the Danish court that Prince Joachim had been traveling through Denmark to film a series of documentaries about what it means to be Danish. These documentaries will air at the end of 2019 and the shooting will continue until the summer of 2019 which might have an impact on Prince Joachim’s days worked number in 2019.

Here is a recap of the data, what do you think about these numbers? What are you expecting for 2019?

If you would like to use these numbers for your own article- please make sure to credit me and link back to my original post. If you have any questions or want more information about the data posted here, send me an email.

I chose Cefinn because their pieces really feel effortless while still being interesting. Samantha Cameron created the label with the aim to create smart, modern and feminine clothes that are easy to wear and I like that philosophy.

Wichmann Couture is a bit of a wild bet. They are a favorite of Princess Benedikte and her daughters and I really love their design. I have no doubt Marie would modify most of them but I thought this post was a good opportunity to highlight their amazing work.

I admit that this brand might not be as good of a fit as the other brands I suggested, but this brand is a Danish brand focused on sustainability. That seems like a great message to support and they do have a few pieces that I think fit Marie well.

Saad made very good suggestions about the heirloom jewels that would fit Princess Marie’s aesthetic.

Queen Margrethe’s Saudi Diamond Necklace

Princess Marie has a small but historic jewelry collection, and one of the pieces I’d like her to borrow is a more recent piece, Queen Margrethe’s Saudi Diamond Necklace, a gift from the Saudi King in the 1980s, which has been previously paired with Princess Marie’s usual Dagmar Floral Tiara. The delicate motif would suit Princess Marie’s simple aesthetic.

Princess Marie comes from France, and a loan I’d like to see on her is the Sapphire Fleur de Lys Brooch/Clasp, a royal family heirloom in the distinctive French symbol of Royalty. Princess Marie already owns sapphire and diamond earrings and has access to the ‘Nuits Claires’ Tiara and Queen Alexandrine’s Sapphire brooch, so another sapphire piece would fit right into her collection.

In recent years, Princess Marie has worn a gem-set statement brooch, said to be a gift from Queen Margrethe on the birth of Princess Athena, and often favors large statement pieces for non-Gala events, thus I feel Queen Margrethe’s modern Turquoise Brooch, a 60th Birthday Gift from Prince Henrik, that can also be worn as a pendant!

For this post, I asked someone who is very special to me to make some suggestions. My 11-years-old little sister wants to become a stylist when she grows up and she started drawing more and more sketches this year, to the point that I had to buy her a real “artist notebook” as she calls it so that she could have all her sketches in the same place. She’s very excited to share 4 of her designs that she drew with Princess Marie in mind, two evening outfits (1 with tiara and order, 1 without) and 2 day outfits! She’s very proud of them and I’m very proud of her so let her know what you think of her work!

Evening Outfit 1

I chose two colors for this gown: dark pink and blue. I chose blue for the belt as it calls back to the blue of the tiara and the blue in the Order of the Elephant and ties the two together. There are sequins on the sleeves. I chose white and gold accessories to let the dress be the focus while still being gala-worthy.

I chose two colors again for this gown: light blue and navy. I chose a silver sequin clutch to match the sequins on the belt and on the bottom of the back of the gown. I chose light pink Jimmy Choo shoes to provide an interesting contrast with the gown.

Once again, I chose several colors for this dress: tan, blue and green. I chose to reverse the two triangles in order to add modernity to this classic wrap dress with pockets. I chose plain accessories to ensure the focus was on the dress.

As part of our 2018 Recap, let’s take a look at Princess Marie’s Fashion this year. Tune in tomorrow for a special post about our wishes for Princess Marie’s 2019 fashion with very special guests.

New Brands:

Princess Marie debuted six new brands this year but two of them really stood out. Princess Marie wore six new items from Goat Fashion: three dresses including the Gaynor dress (pictured), one coat and a blouse (both owned by the Duchess of Cambridge) and a jumpsuit.

She also debuted a very well-liked dress among royals, the Armonia dress by Raquel Diniz. Crown Princess Mette-Marit and Crown Princess Mary also own the shorter version of the dress in red.

The most exciting debut (for me) was Elie Saab at the gala dinner for Crown Prince Frederik’s 50th birthday on May 26th. If you have been following me for a long time, you’ll know that Elie Saab is my favorite designer so I was very pleased to see Marie wearing one of his gowns! Hopefully, she will wear his designs again in 2019!

Recycled vs New?

Danish vs International Identified New Items:

Item of the Year:

Princess Marie’s Item of the Year is definitely her Jimmy Choo ‘Romy’ pumps. She bought 2 version of these pumps in 2017 ( the nude suede and the black glitter but she clearly loved them a lot because she debuted the black suede and the navy suede versions in 2018. She wore the Jimmy Choo ‘Romy’ pumps 19 times this year! These pumps are a classic and she owns enough versions of them to match every outfit so I’m certain we will see them again in 2019.

Princess Marie’s Brand of the Year is no doubt Michael Kors. She had worn the brand before but only twice. This year however she debuted eight items from the brand. She loved the ‘Claire’ pumps as she wore them in red satin and in nude patent leather. She also wore a navy halter neck dress from the brand with the Claire pumps as pictured below on August 9th. I look forward to seeing more of Princess Marie wearing the brand in 2019!

Princess Marie’s less expensive new items both come from Zara! They are the Burgundy Satin Pumps she debuted on April 24th and the Black Ankle Boots she first wore for her last event of the year on December 18th. Both cost €39.95 and the ankle boots are still available here.

Her most expensive new items come from Christine Hvelplund and were worn at the concert hosted for Crown Prince Frederik’s 50th birthday on May 27th. Her new earrings and two new bracelets from her favorite jeweler retail at a total of DKK 166800 (=$25556).

As part of our 2018 Recap, let’s take a look at Princess Marie’s events for her main Patronages this year. Just click on the date to read each post about each event.

AIDS-Fondet:

Compared to last year’s 4 events related to the Fondation she attended in 2017, Princess Marie only attended one event this year, the ceremony on World AIDS Day commemorating those who lost their lives to AIDS on December 1st.

On May 7th, Princess Marie visited Katrinebjergskole which is a model school for the Danish NEST program. The NEST program is established in New York and is based on the idea that children are more alike than different.

On June 22nd, Princess Marie visited two projects sponsored by the Danish Association for Autism.

On November 8th, Princess Marie attended the Scottish Autism 50th Anniversary Conference and the following dinner. This was one of my favorite posts to write this year!

On November 13th, Princess Marie attended the Stop Wasting Food dinner. This dinner will become an annual tradition.

Danish Emergency Management Agency (DEMA):

Princess Marie is an honorary member of DEMA since 2011 and she works as a special project assistant since 2016 but she also attends public events for the organization.

On January 4th, Princess Marie met with Dutch experts to learn about their initiatives to prevent fires and flooding and protect the population.

On June 6th, Princess Marie attended a memorial ceremony to commemorate the 25th anniversary of an attack that took place in Maglaj, Bosnia-Herzegovina, killing two members of the Danish Emergency Management Agency and their local translator.